Members of the nation's #4 Fastest-Growing Church are celebrating an awakening for God with prayer, fasting and some can't-miss speakers.

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Celebration Church

A 2013 OUTREACH 100 CHURCH
#4 FASTEST-GROWING, #37 LARGEST

Don’t be surprised if you see packs of cigarettes, porn magazines or even a big box of cookies at the Celebration Church altar come January. Spurred by Lead Pastor Stovall Weems’ passion for prayer and fasting, the church annually begins its year with a 21-day spiritual campaign called Awakening. To illustrate what they are giving up—participants are encouraged to seek God’s guidance for their individual approach to “fasting”—some even leave their addiction items at the front of the church.

“When you abstain from what you normally consume, you are creating a space for God,” Weems says. “Some things only come out of prayer through fasting, whether that is giving up a stronghold or making room for God to do a miracle in your life.”

For the past two years, the event has culminated in a multinight revival where fasters and others enjoy top speakers such as T.D. Jakes and Steven Furtick. And like at any Celebration service or event, Weems ends with a call to salvation, what he calls “the ask.”

“[Weems] is obsessed with whether the kingdom of God is winning on earth as it is in heaven,” says Executive Pastor Jeff Jenkins.

CELEBRATION CHURCH Jacksonville, Fla.
Lead Pastor: Stovall Weems
Twitter: @StovallWeems
Website: Celebration.org
Founded: 1998
Affiliation: Nondenominational
Locations: 4
Attendance: 11,096
Growth in 2012: +3,396 (44%)